From The Ashes
by AliceJericho
Summary: -Fade To Black Sequel- It's all about redemption when Tessa returns from her time off. Her reputation, despite her best efforts, is no better than when she arrived in the WWE - it might even be worse - but Tessa's ready to face it head on. Sami Zayn/OC/Dolph Ziggler -Discontinued-
1. I Don't Know Where I Stand

**This is a sequel to Fade To Black, if you haven't read it you're going to be really confused.**

 **I only own Tessa Scobille and Darcy Quinn.**

* * *

 _I Don't Know Where I Stand_

* * *

 _June 25_

Nikki: You make it home OK?

Tessa: Yep.

Tessa: So... What do I do now?

Nikki: Enjoy! Relax! Treat yourself!

Tessa: ? What do those words mean?

* * *

 _June 29_

Tessa: Look after my belt okay? I'm coming for you when I get back!

Paige: I'm not worried ;)

Tessa: Sure sure. I can hear you shaking all the way from Michigan. Make sure you give my compliments to Darcy. That was a crazy bump.

Paige: She's already feeling it. You and me at TLC yeah? We'll have our own TLC match.

Tessa: You know what? You can do all the fancy stuff and I'll keep my head attached to my shoulders. Sound good?

Paige: Good plan! All the more praise for me! Muahahaha!

* * *

 _June 30_

Tessa: No seriously. I did everything I have to do already.

Nikki: At least your organised?

Tessa: I have 3 weeks left and nothing to do. I wanna say I'll go watch some indie stuff... Are we allowed to do that?

Nikki: They can't stop you from watching your brother. Just don't get caught on any tapes ;)

Tessa: I'll be on all of them, just wait and see.

* * *

 _July 4_

Summer: Twitter wants you to know that they saw you at the show last night.

Tessa: Am I going to get in trouble?

Summer: Not at all! It's your free time do what you want. Probably not porn though.

Tessa: Better cancel my 3 o'clock!

Tessa: Happy 4th of July!

Summer: Have some drinks for me!

* * *

 _July 6_

"Jimmy, they really aren't letting me go to Japan."

"What the hell do you mean they aren't letting you go to Japan? They should be forcing you to go!"

"Stephanie almost caved. I cried – not that that should surprise anyone. Vince came in, though, and he was very stern and very adamant that I 'heal' properly."

"Christ you really fucked up, didn't you?"

"I don't even know what I'm doing when I get back. Stephanie wouldn't say anything other than Tia and Dolph getting together. I won't be surprised if I never get another title shot ever again."

"They'd be crazy not to give the title back, June."

* * *

 _July 10_

Alex: You shoulda tried harder. As if you aren't here right now.

Tessa: I hate myself don't worry. I may or may not have gotten down on my knees and begged.

Alex: I'd be really disappointed if you didn't.

Alex: How can they say you aren't suspended and then prevent you from travelling like this?

Tessa: It's a suspension. They just didn't have to write a press release for it.

* * *

 _July 13_

-instagram- summerraewwe: I have a new house sitter! No parties without me, T!

* * *

 _July 14_

"I hate not being backstage. I'm getting anxiety not being able to make sure everyone's okay."

"Everybody's fine."

"Nikki."

"If someone was hurt you'd already know, okay? Enjoy your break and stop worrying about work!"

"I don't know how to do that! I haven't had this long off since I was injured and that's like the only time I've had off. Wrestling is my entire life."

"And it can't wait to have you back. Now get off the phone and go have a bath or something."

* * *

 _July 17_

Tessa: I get to ride with Darcy to Battleground.

Summer: Oh

Tessa: Yep.

Tessa: Tips?

Summer: Don't talk to her.

Tessa: Yay.

* * *

 _July 20_

Tessa: Hurricane Tessa is about to hit. Take shelter.

Brie: Bring on the storm!


	2. It's Never Gonna Feel Quite The Same

_It's Never Gonna Feel Quite The Same_

-July 20, 2014; Tampa, Florida-

"Good luck tonight," Tessa said to Darcy as the latter pulled her suitcase away from the car.

"Thanks," Darcy said, pausing to turn around and face the woman she had just driven with from Orlando. "I don't like you," she said firmly, "and I sure as hell don't like what you did. Sami isn't really my friend but he's a good guy and you don't deserve him. Leighla doesn't deserve what you did to her. One and a half hours in a car together isn't going to change how I feel about you."

"I wasn't expecting it to," Tessa responded. "I admire your loyalty a lot."

"Yeah, I try not to fuck over the people I care about, you know?"

The smile Tessa had been forcing dropped completely when Darcy turned her back and started to walk into the arena.

There was a large part of her that didn't want to be going back to work, purely because of the way people were going to react, but it was all negated by her need to be back in the ring. The past week had been spent in Orlando where she used the Performance Center to her full advantage: getting involved in drills, having practice matches, using The Mirror, working out in the gym, spending a lot of time talking to the physicians. She wanted to put all that hard work to good use.

It had been long since decided that Brie would meet Tessa in the parking lot so that she wouldn't have to feed herself to the wolves. As promised, Brie met her at the roller door and her smile was only getting bigger with every step forward that Tessa took.

"You look _great_ ," Brie commented, helping Tessa with the bag that had been hoisted over her shoulder.

"The Performance Center is next level," Tessa said. "It's unbelievable how good a place that is. I would have given anything to get my start there."

"Tell me about it!" Brie agreed. "They've got it so easy! Everything in one place, sturdy equipment-"

"I'm pretty sure FCW was better than The Academy," Tessa said to remind Brie that she hadn't had it too bad. "Better than Punk."

Brie laughed. "Yeah, you're probably right."

The atmosphere backstage in the arena was no different than when Tessa had left a month earlier. It didn't seem like people cared very much about what she had done but she was also aware that the people she was passing had little reason to care.

They didn't stop on their way to the locker room – Tessa wanted to drop her things off and get ready before she had to think about being confronted by Rami or Colby. She didn't even want to see Claudio. In the locker room the girls had clearly made themselves at home with clothes and make up scattered throughout the room and Tessa rolled her eyes.

"You all got _worse_ ," she commented, dropping her things down into an empty space. Brie didn't say anything she just started rifling through her own bag. "Do I look okay? I can wear this out there, right?"

"Of course you can," Brie answered without looking up. "You look cute. Perfect for turning on Sami."

Tessa patted down her dress and looked at herself in the mirror situated on the wall before pulling a pair of heels out of her bag.

She had discussed her new storyline with Triple H when he had been down at NXT. She had talked to neither Rami nor Dolph about how they would all be working together but what she was to be doing that night was easily enough organised during the few hours before the show. The storyline wasn't exactly something she wanted to be doing but Stephanie had kept to her word and there would be no mentions of Tia cheating on Sami – she hoped the WWE Universe wouldn't assume that themselves.

"I guess I should report to Carano."

* * *

By the time she found Carano, she had been found by the other Divas – most of whom were more than happy to see her. AJ, to nobody's surprise, steered clear and Tessa was grateful. It was only a matter of time before they had to work together and she could wait until then for the guaranteed clash. She had also passed most of the Superstars, a few had smiled while others hadn't even acknowledged her. As she had expected.

"Did you make it okay? Darcy was okay?"

"She was great," Tessa answered and it wasn't a lie. Darcy had been perfect until they got out of the car.

"How's your knee?"

"Great. The physicians down at NXT really know what they're doing."

"I'm glad to hear it. When you get the chance you should talk to Stephanie and she will discuss some of the finer details of your return," he pulled some papers off of the nearby table. "These are yours – I trust that you received them during the week but just to be sure. Dolph and Sami go on in the fifth segment, you'll need to talk to them both before they go on. Any questions?"

"No sir, none at all."

"Welcome back, Miss Scobille."

She smiled as genuinely as possible but she knew that it looked tight – that's exactly how it felt.

Summer was the next person to speak to Carano, so Tessa hung around outside the temporary office for her friend. She played on her phone while she waited and smiled at anybody who actively tried to get her attention and say hello.

"I'm a little devastated that we aren't working together anymore," Summer said as she walked out of her meeting. "It was good for me."

"It was so fun working with you. I'm just as devastated, believe me. I wish I could just go back to wrestling instead of being used to further guys' storylines. We could have a proper feud instead of it being because of the boys."

Summer shrugged, "TV time is TV time. That's what we're all fighting for here."

Tessa sighed. "We shouldn't have to fight. I mean, of course we should be fighting for our places but it should _not_ be fighting just to get more than two minutes on television."

"I've said it before, if you want to go to Vince with a fire lit under your ass and then by all means, go ahead," Summer said, extending her arm to gesture Tessa in the direction of their boss. Tessa rolled her eyes because even if she wanted the changes she also liked her job enough to not cause too many more problems.

A smile grew on Summer's face at something over Tessa's shoulder which caused her to look backwards and see Dolph Ziggler walking in their direction.

"How's my newest girlfriend?" Dolph asked as he casually dropped his arm over Tessa's shoulders. "She looks great."

"She feels a bit nauseous," Tessa responded quietly.

"No need – it's going to be great!"

"I really hope so."

Summer disappeared moments later with a kind smile and Tessa wasn't sure why – until she saw Rami walking towards them. She tried to not be obviously startled because it was always going to happen but when he greeted Dolph with a hand shake Tessa couldn't even squeak out a 'hello'. Any hopes of even offering him a shy, sad smile were dashed when she realised that she was frozen in place.

"We've been talking about the match," Dolph said quickly, sensing the tension. "We've got it all organised. There isn't a specific time you have to come out but the end is DQ by title shot. We need you to come down, hold the title like you used to and then-"

"Somehow get it to you," Tessa said quietly. "I've done it before."

"Just making sure," Dolph tells her. "Just look sorry when you come out, have everyone believing that Tia wants to get back with Sami."

"Have you got one last run through?" she asked, keeping her eyes on the writing on Dolph's shirt.

"Yeah in about twenty minutes we have the ring. You gonna come down?"

"Of course."

* * *

 _Live at Battleground_

Tia walked down the ramp slowly, watching with fearful eyes as the two men in the ring continued their match. When Sami Zayn noticed a figure walking towards the ring, he turned around and his jaw dropped when he saw Tia.

"Concentrate!" she told him, pointing back into the ring where Dolph Ziggler was ready to take advantage of Zayn's momentary lapse in concentration.

Hastily walking to the small closed off section beside commentary, Tia reached over and asked for the Intercontinental Championship.

"I always hold the belt," she reminded Lilian Garcia who hesitantly handed it over. Everyone was shocked to see Tia.

"What is she doing here?" JBL asked his broadcast partners, taking his eyes off of the match just as Ziggler locked in a sleeper hold.

"She's here to get her boyfriend back!" King exclaimed. "She's even holding his belt like she always does."

"Tia has no business being here! She hasn't been seen in nearly a month. She and Zayn are broken up!"

Tia, who was standing in front of the commentators, turned to the three men with a sad smile before facing the ring. She held the championship closely to her chest and watched the match intently, cheering on Zayn and trying to build up some momentum.

Zayn was moments away from hitting the Helluva Kick when Tia climbed onto the ring apron, getting the attention of Scott Armstrong, the referee. She had left the championship on the ring mat as she argued with the referee, gaining the attention of both Zayn and Ziggler.

"T, I've got this. Just get down," Zayn told her, walking towards her. While neither he nor Armstrong were looking, Tia discretely kicked the white championship in Ziggler's direction and he reached down to pick it up, quickly hitting Zayn with it before dropping it, kicking it back to Tia and covering the champion.

"He can't win this way!" King shouted in horror.

"Zayn shouldn't have gotten distracted!" JBL defended Ziggler while Michael Cole called the action.

Dropping down off the apron with a shrug, Tia smirked widely as the crowd jeered and Armstrong slid onto his stomach, counting the pin.

The boos from the crowd filled Tia with a huge sense of accomplishment and she continued to smile as she climbed back onto the apron and into the ring. Ziggler was waiting for her with in the centre of the ring so she bent down to pick up his new championship and handed it over to him before she moved into his arms.

They both jerked away from Armstrong as he tried to raise Ziggler's arm and officially declare him the winner and Tia did it herself. Ziggler looked at her and then she smiled up at him. He leaned forward, kissing her as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"This isn't right!"

"This is beautiful! Look at Tia; she looks happier now than she ever did with Sami Zayn!"

* * *

 **a/n I know, I know, I said it wouldn't take long and well… It did. I've kind of gotten out of wrestling a little recently with most of what I know coming from Tumblr so it's a bit hard to write wrestling fanfic when I'm not as into it any more. Hopefully that'll change and I'll pick it up again soon.**


	3. You Know I Think About It All The Time

_You Know I Think About It All The Time_

-July 21, 2014; Miami, Florida-

Tessa liked being a heel; she liked being the heel that ran her mouth and got on everybody's bad side. There were things she could say in the ring that she would never even think about saying out of character and it was exhilarating.

She had driven from Tampa to Miami with Dolph, Summer and Zack Ryder and the four of them had discussed the possibilities for the newest on-screen relationship. They all agreed that there was a lot that could be done and a lot that could be achieved – they just had to hope that Corporate would be on board for them.

They all entered the arena together, Summer and Tessa immediately heading for the locker room. Tessa knew that she would need some help getting into Tia's new character and she wanted to get it out of the way as soon as possible.

"We're changing up Tia," Summer told Nikki when she and her sister entered the locker room.

"Oh, I can see that," Nikki said with a knowing smirk. She winked when Tessa looked up at her.

"What do you mean?" Tessa asked, frowning a little.

"I have never seen you wear that shirt or those sexy black shorts."

" _Shut up_ ," Tessa said as a blush rose to her cheeks. Summer laughed along with Nikki. "The girls down at NXT helped me out with a new wardrobe. It's no big deal."

It had taken a discussion with Dusty Rhodes to make Tessa realise that Tia couldn't be the same character upon her return; Girl Next Door Tia would not date Dolph Ziggler and he would not date her. It required a large overhaul of her wardrobe and a few lessons in confidence and being sexy from the NXT Divas.

"Better tell Dolph to watch out or he won't just be fighting Sami back," Nikki said with another wink causing Tessa to roll her eyes and shake her head. "You doing okay?"

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" Tessa asked, forcing a smile as she rose to her feet.

"We talked about this: I can tell when you're lying, Tessa."

"If I'm ever not okay, I'll talk to you." She turned to Summer and said, "And I'll talk to you. Both of you need to stop with the questions."

Summer raised her hands to show her surrender while Nikki raised an eyebrow and stared at Tessa. Tessa stood to her feed after fixing the buckles on her shoes and shooed Nikki from the room, walking closely behind her.

"Did someone down at NXT say something to you?" Tessa asked when they were walking the halls. "Because I thought I was taking it well."

"That's why I'm asking. You know that you don't _have_ to be okay, right?"

Tessa's acting skills had definitely been put to the test while she was getting in extra training at NXT. Although she had handled the whole situation a lot better than when it had happened back in 2008 – she couldn't really run back off to Japan, anyway – she still made sure that nobody at the Performance Center saw her in any mood other than happy.

* * *

 _Live on Monday Night Raw_

Tia made no effort to even knock as she entered The Authority's office with a fierce determination not yet seen by the WWE Universe.

"Tia," Stephanie said tersely, "What can I do for you?"

"I want my title back," Tia responded without hesitation. "I never lost it, I was stripped of it because of an old injury. I deserve to get my title back."

" _Your_ title? Paige won that title fair and square, I can't just take it from her."

"Sure you can, you're the boss."

A smirk appeared on Stephanie's face. "I'm not going to do that for you, Tia. You aren't the number one contender."

Tia faltered, clearly having expected that she would be immediately given back the Divas Championship. A split second later she squared her shoulders and spoke, "Give me _any_ of the Divas in a match and I will prove to you that I am the best this company has to offer. Having anyone else but me as the champion is not what's best for business, Stephanie."

Stephanie laughed a little as her own tagline was thrown back at her. "I'll tell you what, I'll give you a chance to become number one contender. All you have to do is beat every single Diva on the main roster and you'll get your title shot."

"All of them?" Tia's shoulders fell as she thought over what that would really mean.

"That won't be a problem, will it?"

Tia shook her head. "No, no problem at all. I can do that. I've beaten most of them before, right?"

"Wonderful!" Stephanie said jovially. "Next Monday you'll face Cameron."

Significantly less concerned, Tia smiled and nodded at her boss and left without any pleasantries. Dolph Ziggler was waiting for her outside the door. He extended his hand for her to take and they walked down the hall.

* * *

"We're the kind of couple who holds hands, then?" Tessa asked when they were free of the cameras.

"I noticed that you and Sami never really held hands, so this can be our thing, you know?"

Tessa retracted her hand from Dolph's as he finished speaking. Her lack of hand holding had been brought up on multiple occasions by multiple different people and she never really had an answer.

"I guess we're the kind of couple who holds hands," she agreed, knowing that things needed to change between the two relationships.

They were next on the card – well, Dolph Ziggler and Sami Zayn were next on the card – so they quickly made their way towards Gorilla. Rami was already there and Tessa tried her hardest to smile at him, no matter how soft and unconvincing it might have been.

Tessa knew that she didn't have much to do at ringside – just to be there and smile and wave sarcastically – so she hadn't been present when they were fine-tuning their match. She didn't even know who was going over.

* * *

Tessa walked into the back only moments after Sami did but he was still nowhere to be seen. She couldn't blame him for his quick disappearances, she just knew that she had to talk to him before long.

Dolph was right behind her, letting his championship hang by his side, and Tessa turned around to talk to him. He froze.

"What did I do now?" he asked slowly, his eyes widening a little.

"The _thing_. At the top of the ramp!" she clarified, obviously exasperated, when he shook his head in confusion. "You've got to warn me!"

She was referring to his usual entrance – the gyration at the top of the ramp – and the fact that he had pulled Tessa so that she was standing directly in front of him as he did it.

"You did well," he said, his confusion morphing into a confident smirk. "I like surprising you, it's more fun that way. More natural."

Tessa stomped her foot a little, the sound echoing in the small area. They were ushered off at that moment and left with Tessa pushing at Dolph's side as he playfully kept trying to tug her towards him.

* * *

 **a/n what's this? _An update?!_ No way! Super sorry, but life has been not too great lately. I've finished uni, though, and things personally seem to be looking up so I'm gonna try to keep this up. Except that I've started writing original fiction and plan on engaging in nanowrimo so I can promise no regular updates. Also this is really short but at least it's an update?**

 **Thank you to absolutely everyone who is still here!**


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